Starring McKenna Grace and Mason Thames, Regretting You is a sentimental movie that explores the complexities of families, broken trust, and the struggle to find happiness after a tragedy. This romantic drama left me laughing and crying as the characters confronted secrets and their past mistakes.
The movie is based on a novel by Colleen Hoover, also titled Regretting You, published in 2019. Hoover is a famous young-adult author who mainly writes romances, including other famous novels like It Ends With Us. The book, Regretting You, was a New York Times bestseller and a Kindle #1 Bestseller, according to Amazon.
Rotten Tomatoes writes, “‘Regretting You’ is a cute antidote to doom and gloom that wraps viewers in a candy-filled story, rewarding them with laughter and tears.” The critics on Rotten Tomatoes rated the movie 28%. However, audience members on Rotten Tomatoes enjoyed this movie more, stating that “the movie was very sweet and warm-hearted.”
The plot follows the life of a mother-daughter duo, a 35-year-old mom, Morgan, and her teenage daughter, Clara. They struggle with their communication and maintaining a good relationship following a car accident that killed Clara’s dad and aunt. This car accident unearthed a lot of family secrets that had been in the dark for many years.
At the same time, Clara sparks a relationship with a classmate, named Miller, straining Morgan and Clara’s relationship even further. Morgan was against the relationship, but Clara defied her mother to be with Miller, leading to many difficulties. Throughout this movie, I thought that many of the disagreements between Clara and her mother were very melodramatic. I also thought that the majority of the problems between Clara and her mom could be solved through communication, especially through their grief.
Throughout the movie, Clara uses her relationship with Miller to hurt her mom over many issues they are currently fighting about. I think that Clara’s immaturity in processing her grief after the car accident is the cause of most of the problems the movie explored, because of her lack of communication and empathy for others, mostly for her mom.
Overall, I thought the plotline was confusing and repetitive because of unexplained plot points and a narrative that switches focus between different characters regularly. The secrets were not explained fully, leading to confusion about the past and current relationships between the characters. Furthermore, the majority of the problems that the characters faced in the plot could have been solved with better communication, so I thought that the majority of the problems described in this movie were pointless.
This movie was a heartfelt depiction of the complicated life of adolescence, and on the surface, I think that this movie is great for a laugh, and if you want a teenage romantic drama. I do, however, think that as you explore the movie more complexly, the plotline gets repetitive and confusing.
Altogether, I highly recommend going to the theaters and watching this movie, especially with friends, because I enjoyed laughing about the awkward moments and smiling during the sweet moments with others. If you’re looking for a well-thought-out plotline and add something else, then this movie might not be for you. Go to the movies and see Regretting You.
